Claudio Abbado, who decided to become a conductor after hearing a La Scala concert at age 8 and
went on to lead the Milan opera company and some of the top orchestras in the world, has died.

He was 80.

The conductor died in the northern city of Bologna in his native Italy after a long illness.

Abbado, who was known as a musician’s musician, shunned the publicity and pomp often associated
with leading conductors and staunchly supported young musicians.

“He was a truly charismatic conductor,” said Lennox Mackenzie, chairman of the London Symphony
Orchestra, where Abbado was principal conductor from 1979 to 1988. “His concerts were breathtaking
occasions for the audience and players alike.”

In addition to serving as music director of La Scala for two decades, Abbado led the Vienna
State Opera and the Berlin Philharmonic.

His appointment as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1989 led music critics to call
him “the world’s most powerful conductor.”

Abbado also recorded some of the world’s most cherished classical music for the Deutsche
Grammophon label.